Crematoriums in India’s capital Delhi have been forced to build makeshift funeral pyres as the COVID crisis sweeping India led to an explosion of new cases. Munia Iffat reports.
- India has seen more cases in the last seven days than any other country.
- The official death toll surpasses 200,000; experts believe the actual number may be higher.
- Crematoriums across Delhi are struggling to cope, with grieving relatives forced to wait up to 20 hours for a funeral pyre for their loved ones.
- “People are just dying, dying and dying,” said Jitender Singh Shanty, who is coordinating more than 100 cremations per day at the site in the east of the city as oxygen supplies run low and hospitals crumble under the strain.
- Reports said 27 new pyres had been built in the capital’s Sarai Kale Khan crematorium and dozens more were being added in a nearby park. Officials were also looking for additional space near the city’s Yamuna river bed.
In the last 24 hours, 360,960 new COVID cases were recorded, the largest single-day total in the world, taking India’s total to nearly 18 million.